3 things you might not know about Google for Education

Google for Education’s James Leonard discussed the principles behind the company’s education philosophy—and he previewed a brand-new Google service to launch this fall

Google is launching a major new tool this fall as part of its Google Apps for Education suite.

What does it mean to “go Google” as a K-12 school or district? In a recent eSchool Newswebinar sponsored by Google, James Leonard from the Google for Education team gave an overview of the many ways the company is using open technology “to improve learning for everyone, everywhere.”

There are four key principles behind Google’s philosophy for education, Leonard said:

• Empowerment: Leveraging the web to discover a world of infinite resources.

• Choice: The ability to use the right device, any time and anywhere. Google solutions work across many platforms, Leonard said, giving students and educators maximum flexibility.

“We think that a student’s information and learning environment should be easy to access and secure, whether they’re using a laptop at home, a tablet at school, or a Chromebook at a friend’s house,” he explained. “They should basically have access to all of their stuff, and the technology should just get out of the way—so that students and teachers can really just focus on the content and on working together.”

• Teamwork: The ability to work together on projects and documents in real time.

• Scalability: Technology must be affordable and easy to manage.

Google aims to make good on these principles by providing a secure platform for working and collaborating (Google Apps for Education, a free suite of tools accessible by any device with a web browser); easy-to-manage devices such as Chromebooks and Android tablets; and content such as Android apps and YouTube videos.

Many educators already are familiar with these basic resources—but here are three things you might not have known about them:

1. Google is launching a major new tool this fall as part of its Google Apps for Education suite.

Comment:

marytate

June 19, 2014 at 6:57 pm

This is so amazing! Google has really made a commitment to education by allowing these apps for free. Our district is in the works of starting our Google for education journey. Glad eSchool is providing the information.